The Mind-Body Problem

The hilarious underground bestseller about one woman’s pursuit of carnal pleasure—and the philosophy that gets in the way. When Renee Feuer goes to college, one of the first lessons she tries to learn is how to liberate herself from the restrictions of her Orthodox Jewish background. As she discovers the pleasures of the body, Renee also learns about the excitements of the mind. She enrolls as a philosophy graduate student, then marries Noam Himmel, the world-renowned mathematician. But Renee discovers that being married to a genius is a less elevating experience than expected, and that the allure of sex still beckons. Her quest for a solution to the conflicting demands of sensuality and spirit is a touching and always humorous adventure. The Mind-Body Problem was a sensation when it first appeared, earning a spot on The New York Times bestseller list and a cult following that lasts to this day. And it's easy to see why: it's a pleasure to inhabit Renee's mind while she investigates the world around her. Her psychological acuity, frankness, and erudition are irresistible—from the way she skewers the pettiness of Princeton's academic elite to her account of growing up a repressed intellectual in an Orthodox Jewish community. And her brutally honest examination of women's sexuality and the struggle to matter are as powerful and true today as they were 30 years ago. Reviews “A terrific novel ... The first 50 pages or so are so clever and funny that I had to put the book down and go to the fridge to cool off.” —New York Times Book Review “Goldstein is intelligent and perceptive, bawdy and witty—an articulate writer of great talent. Will keep you turning pages to find out how it all turns out.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review “A confectionery of delight, laced with equal parts of wit, humor, and philosophical argument. Goldstein succeeds brilliantly in smuggling into her novel short courses on everything from the history of mathematics to the trouble with Talmudic logic.” — MS. Magazine “A considerable performance: witty, compassionate, and full of fascinating divagations.” — The London Observer “Goldstein’s ability to translate complex philosophical or mathematical problems to such basics as friendship and sexual desire leaves the reader giddy with inspiration." —Kansas City Star "Renee Feuer is a sharp young philosophy grad-student, raised an Orthodox Jew but very much fallen away. . . when she meets famous Noam Himmel, who has come to the Institute for Advanced Studies to bestow it with his genius. A mathematician of world renown, Noam developed a new category of numbers when only age twelve; as an adult person, he's abstracted, enthusiastic, cuddly. And after they marry, Renee is thrilled to discover, at various European conferences, what she's already intuited: ""I had married intellectual royalty."" But it doesn't bring all that much satisfaction; after all, compared to Noam, Renee considers herself dull--and she waits for him inevitably to discover it too. Furthermore, as if in escape from the comparative puniness of her mind, she turns to her body: constantly thinking about sex (which Noam can take or leave), about children at times, finally falling into a series of indiscreet affairs with other Princeton thinkers. Will Noam catch on? Apparently not. While he searches for truths beyond the trivial, he seems not to notice that his wife is rushing back and forth over ""the will to matter"" as a corporeal person. . . as a woman. First-novelist Goldstein, a Barnard philosophy professor, is utterly comfortable in these empyrean climes--with fine observations of Princeton life, a shrewd map of intellectual intolerance; and she bravely does not flinch from writing seriously about her characters' many complex cerebral involvements (slightly puckered, densely demanding summaries of problems in abstract thought). Yet only at the end--Noam's inattention is revealed as grief over having lost his powers of creative mathematics at 40--does the book begin to grab a reader's feelings. Until then, it's all very bouncy and high-minded but also a little bit brittle and trivial: intellectually classy entertainment for academia-watchers or part-time philosophers, with lots of brain and just a flicker (too little, too late) of heart." -Kirkis ABOUT REBECCA GOLDSTEIN Rebecca Newberger Goldstein is the author of ten books of both fiction and philosophy. Her novels include The Mind-Body Problem, Properties of Light: A Novel of Love, Betrayal and Quantum Physics, and 36 Arguments for The Existence of God: A Work of Fiction. She is also the author of Incompleteness: The Proof and Paradox of Kurt Gödel, named by Discover Magazine one of the best science books of 2005, and the award-winning Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity. Her latest book is Plato at The Googleplex: Why Philosophy Won’t Go Away. The recipient of numerous awards for both her fiction and scholarship, including Guggenheim and Radcliffe fellowships, in 1996 she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, popularly known as the “genius” prize. She has also been named the Humanist of the Year by the American Humanist Association, and Free-thought Heroine by the Freedom from Religion Foundation. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is visiting Professor of Philosophy at New College of the Humanities in London. Fiction, Literary